Match Report: LA Galaxy 3:0 Mount Pleasant FA
As Galaxy celebrated in front of their tens of fans behind the goal, it’s clear that the football gods can be as cruel as any others…
In the wee hours of this morning I watched Mount Pleasant Football Academy (MPFA) make their CONCACAF Champions Cup debut against regional giants LA Galaxy. The Jamaican club, founded 10 years ago and whose home ground holds just 3500 people, qualified for the tournament – the North/Central American equivalent of the Champions League – as Caribbean Cup winners in 2025. Galaxy, meanwhile, who won the tournament in 2000 and whose alumni include Beckham, Ibrahimovic, Keane, and Gerrard, qualified via the bronze medal game of the Leagues Cup and are one of 9 MLS clubs in the tournament.
But an already historic encounter took an even more significant turn this week, when it emerged that no fewer than TEN Mount Pleasant players had been refused visas to fulfil the fixture, meaning CONCACAF – the regional equivalent of UEFA – of course ordered the game to be played on neutral soil.
Well, that would have been the obvious thing to do, wouldn’t it? But in fact the governing body took no action whatsoever, vaguely blaming MPFA for not being earlier with the paperwork and forcing manager Theodore Whitmore to supplement his small squad with a host of academy youngsters. The US State department claimed to have granted visas to “all Jamaican athletes who completed applications to play in the tournament”, notwithstanding the fact that at least six of the affected players came from Haiti: a country set to make their maiden World Cup appearance this summer despite facing blanket travel bans on citizens arriving in the USA.
Of course, it is the World Cup that dominates the sporting headlines at the moment, and understandably Iran has been at the forefront. Their participation in the tournament seems to be increasingly unlikely thanks to the sustained military aggression on the country, led by Israel and tournament co-hosts USA. But amidst FIFA’s widely-documented sycophancy towards the latter, we shouldn’t lose sight of the inertia of CONCACAF and its failure to uphold the minimum standards of fairness for its members. And in fact they have form for this kind of thing. Back in 2021, Cuba were set to face French Guiana in the qualifiers for the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Due to COVID restrictions the game was being held in Miami and, despite training in Nicaragua for the week prior, the Cubans were ultimately refused entry and disqualified from the tournament.
To their credit, though, even if a refusal to play would have made sense in protest, Mount Pleasant played the hand they were dealt and the game in LA kicked off as scheduled today at 01.30 GMT. It was enjoyable too, and moreso thanks to the completely partisan perspective that the context had guided me to. When Gabriel Pec put Galaxy in an early lead with a tidy finish (his celebration - on his knees and pointing to the heavens - was a bit much given the circumstances), it seemed as if it was going to be a tough day for the visitors. But the story for most of the game was one of frustration, particularly for his fellow Brazilian Jao Klauss.
There were some big misses indeed from Klauss, including at least 4 headers from close range (one of which was close to being punished on the counter), and a tame shot at the keeper just before half time. He skied it on 56 mins, and was denied by the keeper on 71 minutes and again on 75. Despite having no knowledge of Klauss whatsoever prior to the game, I honestly really enjoyed disliking him for 90 mins. His bald spot is a total throwback (and I say that as a man whose adolescent mane is a distant memory), only really rivalled by Barry Bannan. And although my initial thought was "just shave it off man", I actually respect it. Especially in a footballer, where the first sight of thinning is usually followed by a surgical overhaul. Still, he deserved his pain just for wearing the number 99...
The aspiring journeyman was booked on 53 minutes for a daft challenge, which amusingly followed a blatant shove on his teammate that was missed by the referee. And to be honest some of the refereeing in general led me to assume that VAR couldn’t possibly have been in operation here. At 52 minutes Lucas Sanabria hit the post for Galaxy and a goal kick was given despite a clear deflection, and MPFA goalkeeper Tafari Chambers was booked for timewasting on 64 minutes. He definitely had been at times, and understandably so, but it was strange to see a card being brandished for this offence while physios were attending to the recipient. But it was great to see him make a brave claim for the ball on 78 minutes, after a spill, which saw him clipped by Ramos and able to make it look much more serious than it was.
Despite lacking quality in the final third, MPFA played with a swashbuckling style that was really enjoyable to watch. Given the circumstances, the game was something of a free hit, and they certainly played without fear. They rode their luck for sure, but looked dangerous when they broke with pace. They were pinging balls around and weren't scared of a big challenge or to take a man on, and while I’m not sure whether fans stayed away in protest – which I doubt – or through apathy, but it’s a bit of a shame that more people weren’t there to see them.
After frustrating Galaxy for most of the night, MPFA were hit by a suckerpunch from Miller in the 83rd minute, who headed in the rebound after a good save from Chambers. But VAR (which apparently was on hand after all) intervened due to a clear handball in the buildup by, of course, Jao Klauss! But Pec made sure of the victory with his second of the night on 89 mins - another great strike in fairness, this time cannoning in off the bar, and then his hat-trick with the last kick of the game. The latter was set up (somewhat annoyingly) by Klauss, as the late pressure - and quality - proved too much for the heavily depleted Jamaicans.
As Galaxy celebrated in front of their tens of fans behind the goal, it’s clear that the football gods can be as cruel as any others. While North Korea, who used the COVID excuse themselves, simply withdrew from Qatar 2022 qualification when they didn't fancy playing their remaining games in Seoul, football’s governing bodies allow their more powerful members to punish their political rivals at will. And surely the absolute minimum standard for hosting a football match is to allow both teams to compete? With that having been circumvented, Mount Pleasant have a mountain to climb at the return fixture next week, and it is my sincere hope that the Jamaican authorities see fit to deny entry to the Galaxy players. Not 10 of them, nor just the Americans. All of them, just because.